PAM. 

women 

A HIST0  1>^V 


VVoMflN'S  Oroanized  Missionary  V\|oRK 


PROMOTED  BY  AMERICAN  M'OMEN. 


Hy  Kliss  Kllcn  O.  Parsoriis, 


Kditor  of  yVo/na/i'r:  Work  for  Woman,  York. 


UI:.\l)  A’r  riiC  CONGRUSS  or /AISSIONS.  CHICAGO.  IS93. 


iCarly 

.Societies. 


tiislory  ot  Woman’s  Oroanized  Missionary  Work, 

AS  PROMOTED  BY  AMERICAN  WOMEN. 


When  Columbus  came  to  the  Spanish  court  with  his  reason- 
able eloquence  it  fell  on  many  indifferent  or  .suspicious  ears,  but 
Isabella  believed.  "Amid  the  general  incredulity."  he  says.  ••  the 
.Vlmighty  infused  the  Queen,  my  Lady,  with  a .spirit  of  intelligence 
and  energ>%  and,  while  every  one  else  e.xpatiated  on  the  inconven- 
ience and  co.st,  she  gave  all  the  support  in  her  power."  That 
country  which  she  cheered  on  an  enthusiast  to  find,  the  women 
whose  birthright  it  is  have  determined  shall  be  presen'ed.  Isabella 
l>lead  with  every  fresh  out-going  commander  across  the  Atlantic 
that  he  would  be  pitiful  to  the  poor  slaves  in  the  We.st  Indies;  in 
our  time  we  have  seen  cultivated  women  go  down  themselves 
to  the  degraded  black  race,  the  abiised  red  race,  the  scorned  yellow 
race.  The  devout  Queen  of  the  fifteenth  century  yearned  to  send 
the  Holy  Faith  abroad  and  to  save  souls  in  India,  China  and 
.lapan.  Ye.s,  lovely  Isabella,  you  took  the  longest  way  round  but 
it  was  the  shortest  way  home  to  the  consummation  of  your  wish, 
.American  women,  rank  upon  rank,  re.sj>ond  to  your  longing.  They 
have  torn  off  the  XV  century  clasp  from  your  Bible  and  .sent  the 
Word  of  God  to  have  free  course  in  the  real  China.  India  and 
Japan.  If,  after  four  hundred  years  of  Heavenly  training,  she  has 
developed  anything  in  proportion  to  the  goodness  of  her  life  on 
earth,  it  would  rejoice  Isabella  more,  to-day.  to  know  that,  than 
the  flistinguished  fact  of  a civilized  world  celebrating  the  Dis- 
(wery  with  which  her  name  is  linked. 

The  history  of  organized  missionai-j-  work  as  promoted  by 
women  in  this  country  is  the  history  of  a di.sciplined  army 
developed  in  place  of  volunteer  pickets.  There  was  a short  and 
wavering  picket  line  of  women's  .societies  which  api)eared  in 
advance  of  the  main  column  at  Boston  in  1800.  at  New  Haven  in 
18T2.  New  York  City.  1814;  Norwich,  Connecticut.  1816;  Tall- 
madge.  Ohio,  1816 ; Derry,  Pennsylvania.  tw(j  years  after ; Phila- 
delphia. 182.S;  Bedford.  New  York,  1831;  Newark.  New  Jersey. 
183.J;  Washington.  Pennsylvania,  the  same  year;  Allegheny. 
Pennsylvania,  1838 ; Rockford,  Illinois,  the  same  year ; Sut- 
ton. Vermont.  1847 ; Baltimore,  Maryland.  1848.  Some  of 
the.se  pioneers  never  lowered  their  colors  but  lived  to  cel- 
ebrate their  jubilee,  and  when  the  modern  movement  began  they 
were  the  first  to  come  forward  with  their  old  banners  flying,  to 


constitute  the  nuclei  of  the  more  comprehensive  Woman’s  Boards. 
Early  in  the  century.  Cent  Societies  (sometimes  pathetically  named 
"Female  Cent  Societies"),  were  general  in  Xew  England  and 
sporadic  in  the  Middle  States : one  in  X"ew  London.  Penn.sylvania. 
as  late  as  183:2  sent  contributions  to  the  Presljj-terian  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions.  The  Xew  Hampshire  Cent  Institution,  founded 
in  1801.  is  with  us  still.  After  86  years  it  had  contributed  .8120.(XX)  to 
Home  Missions,  besides  accumulating  a Fund  of  ST2.(.X)0.  Xothing 
but  the  grit  of  the  granite  hills  could  have  kept  alive  a society  so 
loosely  organized,  hamng  members  in  10.)  churches,  only  one 
officer,  and  never  holding  a meeting  for  76  years.  After  1812. 
"Ladies'  Associations"  multiplied,  and.  by  1839.  680  such  were  col- 
lecting funds  for  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

The  history  of  this  woman’s  missionary  movement  is  a history 
of  holy  fellowship  that  was  impossible  to  the  ancient  world.  It 
overlooks  denominational  boundaries : the  active  missionary 
spirits  in  different  branches  of  the  Church  are  those  who  are 
cdosest  together  in  Clu-istiau  .sympathy.  Xo  ocean  can  affect  this 
tie.  A British  sister  has  but  to  step  into  one  of  our  Mission 
Rooms  and  inquire  for  a leaflet,  and  we  recognize  at  once  the  bond 
of  fellowship.  What  did  the  Aspasias.  the  Alcinoes  or  Penelopes 
of  old  Greece,  whose  very  goddesses  lived  in  envy  and  jealousy  of 
one  another,  know  of  such  comradery  and  enthusiasm  between 
women  ? It  could  never  have  drawn  the  breath  of  life  except  in 
the  atmosphere  of  Christianity. 

This  history  is  a record  of  women  called  forth  from  con- 
servatism in  which  they  were  intrenched.  Our  English  and  Scotch 
sisters  were  twenty  years  in  advance  of  us  in  organized  missionary 
work.  There  was  a terrifying  phrase  abroad  and  every  self- 
respecting  woman  shuddered  at  the  thought  of  "woman’s  rights." 
Then  there  was  the  conservatism  of  the  Church,  for  the  new 
version  of  Psalm  68:11  was  not  yet  revealed.  The  story  is  given  as 
authentic  of  a pastor  in  Michigan  who  insisted  on  being  always 
present  in  the  women’s  meetings:  Xo  one  knew  what  they  would 

pray  for.  if  left  alone."  "I  cannot  recommend."  said  the  venerable 
Dr.  Anderson,  of  the  American  Board,  to  his  associate.  Rev.  X.  G. 
Clark.  "I  cannot  recommend  bringing  the  women  into  this  work. 
l)ut  you  are  a young  man : go  on  and  do  it  if  you  can."  It  is  safe 
to  .say  that,  without  encouragement  from  such  Secretaries  as  Dr. 
Clark  and  others  of  like  spirit,  the  history  which  this  occasion 
calls  for  would  have  been  far  other  and  t)riefer  than  it  is. 

But  did  devout  women  of  the  Clmrch  wait  for  the  advantages 
of  general  organization  before  attempting  misssionary  work  ? By 


4 


Karly 

Sarrifices 

for 

Missions. 


uo  means.  From  the  first  they  were  offering  personal  service,  gifts, 
prayers.  The  first  ship  that  carried  American  missionaries  to  the 
heathen  world  bore  away  Harriet  Newell  and  Ann  Haseltine  Jud- 
son.  In  1817  two  unmarried  ladies  were  teaching  among  North 
American  Indians,  and  by  1880,  one  hundred  and  four  had  been 
sent  to  different  tribes  l)y  a single  Board.  For  forty  years  before 
the  modern  movement,  the  silent  partners  in  hardships  of  the 
missionary  cabin  on  the  frontier  were  recognized,  if  unnamed, 
hei’oines  of  the  Church.  This  was  the  era  of  the  universal  sewing 
society  and  the  home  missionary  box.  Before  railroads,  in  the 
days  of  canal  boats,  when  postage  was  twenty-five  cents  and 
purchasing  by  sample  through  the  mail  was  yet  uninvented ; in 
those  days  when  Daniel  Webster  was  in  the  habit  of  referring  to  a 
trip  to  Pittsburg.  Pennsylvania,  as  “my  visit  to  the  West"  oh, 
then,  great  was  the  BOX  ! Small  need  for  the  mothers  in  Israel  to 
spend  their  time  in  surmising  what  would  be  acceptable  as  they 
gathered  round  to  pack  it,  for.  after  perhaps  a decade  of  years  since 
she  went  out  from  the  East  with  her  bridal  trousseau,  at  a distance 
of,  it  may  be,  .300  miles  from  the  nearest  trading  po.st  and  the  fron- 
tier cabin  filling  with  little  heads  all  the  while,  what  was  there  that 
fingers  could  make,  which  the  missionary  mother  did  not  need  ? 
No  small  contribution  of  sympathy,  constancy  and  substantial  aid 
did  a generation  of  women  put  into  those  boxes.  Occasionally  a 
brother  started  for  the  frontier  clad  in  a suit  of  homespun, 
which  their  hands  had  made  from  the  raw  product  of  the  fiax 
field  and  sheep's  back.  Beyond  computation  were  the  pairs  of 
socks  they  knit  and  sent  after  the  box«s.  or,  when  little  money  was 
in  circulation,  turned  into  cash  in  the  East.  The  early  pages  of 
Treasurers'  books  of  every  missionary  society  in  this  country 
record  our  grandmothers'  tithes  of  self-denial  and  plain  toil. 

On  page  1.59  of  the  PaHoplist  published  in  Boston  in  1813. 
appears  the  following  letter,  addressed  to  the  Treasurer  of  the 
American  Board. 

B.vth,  N.  H..  August  17,  1813. 

De.\e  Sir  : 

Mr.  M will  deliver  .8177  into  your  hands.  The  items  are  as 

follows ; 

From  an  obscure  female  who  kept  the  money  for 
many  years,  waiting  for  a proper  opportunity 

to  bestow  it  upon  a religious  object SlOO.lXi 

From  an  aged  woman  in  Barnet.  Vermont,  being 

the  avails  of  a small  dairy  the  past  year .50.(K) 

From  the  same,  being  the  avails  of  two  superfiuous 

garments 

From  the  Cent  Society  in  this  place,  being  half 


1().(K) 


■) 


their  annual  snb.seription 11.00 

My  own  donation.  l)eins  the  sum  hitherto  exi^euded 
in  ardent  spirits  in  my  family,  but  now  totally 

discontinued 5.00 

Prom  a woman  in  extreme  indigence 1.00 

Total 8177.00 

The  same  Board  in  1813  also,  received  its  lir.st  legacy.  8315.83.  left 
by  Sally  Thomas,  a domestic,  whose  wages  had  never  exceeded  fifty 
cents  a week : and.  two  years  after,  the  largest  legacy  received  for 
many  years.  830.(X)0.  from  Mrs.  Norris,  of  Salem.  Massachussets. 
By  faith,  ladies  of  Brookline.  Massachussetts,  made  regular  con- 
tributions for  the  work  of  the  gospel  in  Japan,  while  as  yet  that 
country  was  sealed  against  foreigners.  The  8600  which  they 
placed  in  the  treasury  had  become,  with  its  accruing  interest. 
84.104.23  by  the  time  the  American  Board  was  ready  to  send  its 
first  missionary  to  Japan,  and  was  used  for  that  purpose. 

Glancing  down  the  columns  of  The  Missiouaru  Reporter 
( Presbj’terian ).  published  in  1830.  one  discovers  that  pa.stors  were 
often  made  life  members  of  the  Board  of  Missions  by  ladies  of 
their  congregations.  Interspersed  among  gifts  from  the  ■‘Female 
Benevolent  Society"  (a  very  common  designation),  the  “Female 
Association."  •‘Young  Ladies."  from  “Miss  B's  scholars."  “Two 
little  girls."  “Widow  Fulton."  and.  (rare)  “Female  Praying  So- 
ciety." one  finds  frequent  gifts  from  individual  women,  whose 
names  are  suppressed  while  that  of  the  transmitting  pastor  is 
given  in  full,  as:  ‘‘Donation  from  a Lady;  ditto,  from  a poor 

woman,  by  Rev.-  ."  There  was  another  species  of  gift  essen- 
tially woman  like,  and  characteristic  of  the  past  rather  than  the 
present.  It  was  the  gem  loosened  from  the  finger,  the  heirloom, 
the  souvenii-.  the  memorial  of  a child,  the  token  found  in  the 
purse  of  a dead  friend,  the  piece  of  family  plate  like  a certain 
memorable  silvei'  coffee-pot.  the  offering  of  a Connecticut  parson- 
age. The  latter  went  to  one  missionary  meeting  and  the  mothers 
dropped  in  their  silver  coins ; * after  fifty  years  it  went  to  another 
meeting  and  the  daughters  put  in  their  bank  billst  and  now  it  has 
come  to  the  World’s  Fair.  The  money  value  of  such  relics  was 
not  commensurate  with  the  devotion  which  they  illustrated  -per- 
haps the  treasurer  regarded  them  askance  but  after  all.  these 
trinkets  shine  down  the  years,  like  Isabella’s  .jewels,  with  a glow  of 
womanly  sincerity,  the  evidence  of  woman’s  resourcefulness. 

But  all  these  gifts  were  transmitted  uneconomically.  Local 
societies  were  inadequate.  Prayer  for  missions  more  precious  and 


*AmouTiting  to  $300. 
i Ainouniiny:  to 


G 


I iiitiation 
of  the 
Modern 
Movement. 


availintr  was  never  breathed,  but  it  rose  isolated.  It  lacked  the 
social  element  and  needed  quickening  through  knowledge.  The 
time  came  when  a new  order  was  demanded.  The  lamp  of  woman's 
love  would  always  have  burned  on  within  the  Church.  Always, 
individual  hearts  would  have  been  loyal  to  missions.  Local 
societies  would  have  continued  to  spring  up.  and.  like  their 
predecessors,  few  would  have  suiuived  an  ephemeral  life.  But 
without  a specific  call  and  a new  method,  the  mass  of  women  in 
the  Church  would  never  have  been  svifflciently  informed  upon 
missions  nor  siifficiently  in  touch  with  them  to  make  sacrifices  for 
fhem.  What  was  it  that  .shook  the  Church,  roused  the  women  to 
united,  systematic,  concentrated  action  : that  moved  on  and  on.  a 
compelling  force,  until  we  now  have  in  this  country  a spectacle  of 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  women,  representing  every  branch  of  the 
Christian  Church,  banded  together  in  chartered  societies  and 
disbursing  from  one  to  one-and-a-half  million  of  dollars  every 
year  ? Only  one  other  movement,  that  of  the  Temperance  Lhiion. 
compares  with  it  in  numbers  and  moral  jjower.  Whence  came 
that  powerful  voice  which  evoked  so  much  energy  and  action  ? It 
was  not  patriotism  warning  of  the  menace  in  an  incoming  tide  of 
emigrants-  that  came  later.  It  was  not  national  remorse  demand- 
ing reparation  for  the  exiled  Indian.  It  was  not  even  the  last 
command  of  Jesus.  "Disciple  all  nation.s."  like  a clarion  call  to  the 
conscience.  It  was  a Inniiaii  cn/  appealing  expressly  to  woman's 
tenderness,  and  it  pierced  her  heart.  It  sounded  out  from  black 
heathenism,  ages  old.  lost.  vast,  awful  the  heartbreak  of  mother- 
hood, the  stifled  cry  of  distorted  childhood  tluK  was  what  happy 
women  heard  in  their  hajjpy.  protected  homes. 

".\re  there  any  female  men  among  you  to  come  and  teach  iis/" 
asked  a group  of  Chinese  women,  twenty-nine  years  ago.  of  the 
-\merican  missionary.  " You  must  send  us  single  women."  wrote 
the  wife  of  a Baptist  missionary  in  Burmah.  and  she  painted  the 
picture  of  zenana  life.  David  Abeel  came  home  on  purpose  to 
make  English-speaking  women  under.stand  in  what  bondage  and 
despair  their  oriental  sisters  were.  Women,  and  only  women,  could 
meet  the  need.  Something  less  strenuous  might  have  caught  the 
ear.  but  it  recpiired  a call  ,]ust  so  terrible,  importunate,  so  shut  up 
to  woman,  to  fasten  irresistibly  upon  her  heart. 

How  societies  have  developed  that  sprang  into  being  from  this 
motive  and  with  the  aim  to  answer  this  call,  is  matter  of  history, 
to  be  foxind  in  printed  Annual  Reports  (many  of  them  thick 
pamphlets  I of  thirty-three  separate  Boards  or  Societies,  represeut- 
iua-  fwentv  different  branches  of  the  Church,  in  our  country.  An 


I 

extended  account  may  also  l>e  found  in  the  Encyclopedia  of 
Missions  published  in  1891. 

Orfjauized  missionary  work  as  prompted  by  American  women 
practically  began  in  1861.  with  the  Union  Society  in  Xew  York 
City.  It  was  founded  by  Mrs.  Doremus.  “ While  others  expati- 
ated on  the  inconvenience  and  cost,"  if  not  the  fanaticism  of  such 
a project,  she.  like  Isabella,  believed  in  things  not  seen  and  acted 
with  “ intelligence  and  energj’ " inspired  from  above. 

Just  at  this  time  the  civil  war  broke  out  in  the  Republic,  and 
it  seems  hardly  necessarj’  to  remind  oui-seiv^es  how  for  the  five 
years  that  followed,  the  leisure  of  patriotic  women  was  absorbed 
in  equipping  regiments,  in  administering  soldiers'  hospitals,  or  in 
Sanitarj'  Commission  service.  It  was  a training-school,  and  the 
end  of  the  war  found  many  women  who  had  learned  to  co-operate 
\vith  others  in  work,  to  bear  responsibility,  to  value  method,  and 
whom  the  war  had  left  with  more  power  than  ever  to  bless  others, 
while  with  fewer  personal  claims  upon  them.  Much  of  this 
training  was  providentially  turned  into  the  channel  of  missions. 

The  Union  Society  was  independent  of  denomination  and 
composed  of  members  from  six  branches  of  the  Church.  It  stood 
alone  for  seven  years;  then.  Congregational  Church  women 
organized  Boards  at  Boston  and  Chicago,  to  work  on  Church  lines 
and  in  co-operation  with  the  General  Board  already  existing. 
This  thought  communicated  itself;  the  torch  was  quickly  carried 
from  one  chiuch  altar  to  another.  Now  began  the  massing  of 
forces  which  should  be  as  much  more  effective  than  the  old  order 
as  the  onset  of  an  army  is  superior  to  the  desultory  firing  of  a 
picket  guard.  Distinguished  authorities  have  e.xpressed  their 
estimate  of  the  value  of  this  movement. 

At  a meeting  of  the  Woman's  Society  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  held  in  Chicago  in  1886.  Bishop  Doane  spoke  as 
follows ; “ The  two  principles  of  this  whole  work  are  loving 
organization  and  organized  love.  The  two  things  need  to  be 
together.  Unloving  organization  is  dead  machinery,  a steamless 
engine,  a water  wheel  in  a dried  up  stream  ; and  unorganized  love 
is  a spring  freshet,  a tidal  wave.  The  one  is  dry  and  stiff  and  hard, 
the  other  is  gushing  and  sentimental  and  short-lived.  B\it  organ- 
ized love  and  loving  organization,  which  are  the  essential  and 
characteristic  features  of  this  auxiliary,  have  in  them  the  power  of 
an  endless  life.  When  you  add  to  this  the  value  of  associated  and 
directed  work  and  remember  how  these  women  have  touched  every 
*lass  and  condition  of  men  ; and  add  to  this  the  value  of  their 
Quiet  Days  and  Conferences,  you  can  perhaps  begin  to  estimate 
the  value  of  what  has  been  done."  Rev.  P.  F.  Elliuwood,  D.  D., 


8 


Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  (North),  is  accustomed  in  his  pui)lic  addresses  to  directly 
orsaiiization  connect  the  beginnings  and  progress  of  the  woman's  societies  with 
the  Student  Volunteer  Movement.  He  points  out  that  twenty-five 
years  ago  Christian  women  began  to  carry  foreign  missions  into 
the  home^  that,  unitedly  in  social  meetings  and  alone  in  the 
closet,  they  have  all  these  years  since  been  pouring  out  prayer  for 
this  cause,  and.  now,  here  ai’e  the  living  answers ; young  men  and 
maidens  in  their  teens  and  early  twenties,  offering  themselves 
for  foreign  service.  ”If  the  women's  societies  had  not  done 
another  thing."  says  Dr.  Ellinwood,  “this  is  ten  thousand  times 
worth  all  their  efforts."  And  where  such  seers  on  the  watch 
towers  have  discerned  general  value,  the  women  themselves  have  a 
thousand  times  testified  to  personal  blessings  : to  deliverance  from 
frivolous  occupations , to  eidargement  in  narrow  circumstances, 
joy  in  the  use  of  talents  shaken  from  the  napkin.  A Canadian 
delegate  to  the  London  Conference  in  1890  said:  “ It  is  sometimes 
claimed  that  we  (women)  are  much  disposed  to  talk  and  not  always 
to  talk  wisely.  We  have  not  always  had  vei-y  great  things  to  talk 
about,  but  now  we  have  something  worthy  of  our  time  and 
trouble." 

The  track  of  the  societies  is  marked  by  intellectual  and 
spiritual  growth  of  the  members.  There  has  been  a steady  evolu- 
tion from  the  timid  objection  to  read  a letter  in  public  or  hold  an 
office,  to  the  be.st  utterances  of  gifted  and  devout  women.  There 
has  been  a steady  development  in  the  com^eption  of  the  scope  of 
missionary  work.  For  e.xample  : from  ( 1 ) interest  in  “ one  child  " 
whose  photograph  we  must  own  and  whose  conversion  must  be 
assured  in  advance  ; (2)  a ••  scholarship  (8)  a "share  in  a school 
(4)  (coming,  if  not  already  attained)  "share  in  educational  work  of 
a mis.siou." 

Tiic  Every  one  will  admit  that  the.se  results  at  home,  as  well  as  all 

.\(ivaiiiaK«s  that  has  been  accomplished  upon  the  field,  have  been  immeasur- 
ably  greater  with  the  stimulus  and  momentum  of  concerted 
orsaui/.ition  than  if  every  individual  had  acted  alone.  Take  the  matter 

of  contributions.  Though  there  were  always  women  givei’s  to 
missions,  is  it  not  true  that,  in  a former  generation,  the  majority  of 
wives  .sat  at  the  upper  end  of  the  pew  and  beheld  their  husband.s. 
at  the  other  end.  dropping  the  family  contribution  into  the 
passing  box,  comfortably  free,  themselves,  from  either  responsi- 
bility, or  motive  for  self-denial?  Through  jxaiicipatiiig  in  the 
direction  of  missionary  work,  multitudes  of  women  have  acquired 
the  sense  of  responsibility  and  give  their  money  with  the  feeling 
of  a share-holder.  Without  the  society  and  the  appointed  solicitor 


9 


much  would  be  lost  both  to  meetings  and  treasury.  The  iutere.sted 
woman  goes  to  the  uninterested  woman  and  brings  her  to  the 
au.xiliary.  She  comes  and  bears  her  part  becamse  she  is  invited. 
Add  to  this  that  the  society  has.  by  precept  and  pledges,  cultivated 
systematic  and  Biblical  giving,  and  we  may  reasonably  claim  that 
the  pronounced  aim  “ to  secure  funds  which  would  not  otherwise 
be  given."  has  been  to  a great  e.xteut  fulfilled.  This  is  the  opinion 
held  by  Church  Boards  and  by  leading  lousiness  men  connected 
with  them.  Tins  training  of  women  to  give  and  interesting  them 
in  something  worthy  of  their  gifts  came  none  too  soon,  for  the  last 
quarter-century  has  seen  an  enormous  advance  in  this  country  in 
the  amount  of  property  that  has  come  under  the  absolute  control 
of  Christian  women. 

The  organization  of  these  societies  occurred,  in  the  order  of 
time,  as  follows ; 

1861.  Woman's  Union  Missioiiai-j*  Society.  Xew  York. 

18G8.  Woman's  Board  of  Missions.  (Bo.stoii)  Congregational  Church. 

1868.  Woman's  Board  of  the  Interior.  (Chicago)  Congregational 
Church. 

1869.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  (Boston)  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  North. 

1870.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  (Philadelphia)  Presby- 
terian Church,  North. 

1870.  Woihan's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Northwe.st.  (Chicago 
Presbyterian  Church.  North. 

1870.  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  (New  York)  Presbyterian 
Church.  North. 

1871.  Woman's  Au.xiliary  to  the  Board  of  Mission.s.  (New  York) 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

1871.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society.  ( Boston ) Baptist  Chirrch. 
Northern  Convention. 

1871.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  We.st.  (Chicago). 

Baptist  Church.  Northern  Convention. 

1871.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  Northern  New  York. 

(Albany)  Presbyterian  Church.  North. 

1871.  Woman's  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Pacific  Islands.  (Honolulu) 
Cf)Ugregational  Church. 

1873.  Woman's  Mis.siouary  Society.  Free  Baptist  Church. 

187.3.  Woman’s  Occidental  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  (San  Fran- 
cisco) Presbyterian  Church.  North. 

1873.  Woman's  Board  of  the  Pacific.  (San  Francisco)  Congi-egational 
Church. 

1874.  Woman's  Mite  Missionary  Society.  African  Methodi.st  Episco- 
pal Chiu-ch. 


Date  of 
the 

Soeieties. 


10 


Variety 

in 

Metliod, 
Vuity 
of  Aim- 


1875.  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  AGssious.  (Xew  York)  Reformed 
(Dutch)  Church  in  America. 

187.5.  Woman's  Board  of  Mission.s.  Christian  ( Disciple  i CTaurch. 

1875.  Woman's  Missionary  Association,  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 
1875.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionarj-  Society  of  California,  Baptist 
CTiurch,  Northern  Convention. 

1877.  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Southwest.  (St. 
Louis)  Presbyterian  Church.  North. 

1878.  Woman's  Missionarj*  Societj*.  (Nashville i Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  South. 

1879.  Woman's  Home  and  Foreign  Missionarj*  Societj*  of  General 
Synod.  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church. 

1879.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Societj*.  Methodist  Protestant 
Church. 

1880.  Woman's  Board  of  Foreign  Missions.  Chunberland  Presbjder- 
ian  Chm-ch. 

1881.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionarj*  Union,  Friends. 

188.3.  Woman's  General  Missionarj*  Societj*.  (Xenia,  Ohio.)  United 
Presbyterian  Church. 

1883.  Woman's  Missionarj*  Societj*  Evangelical  .\ssociation.  (Ger- 
man Churches)  North  America. 

1884.  Woman's  Missionarj*  Union.  Southern  Baptist  Convention. 
1884.  Woman's  Board  of  General  Conference.  Seventh-daj*  Baptists. 
1888.  Woman's  Board  of  the  North  Pacific,  (Oregon)  Presbyterian 

Church.  North. 

1888.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionarj*  Societj*  of  Oregon.  Baptist 
Church.  Northern  Convention. 

1889.  Woman's  Foreign  Missionarj*  Society.  ( Boston  i Reformed 
Episcopal  Church. 

general  Woman's  Board  is  now  found  in  nearly  everj* 
leading  denomination  of  Christians,  the  chief  exception  being  that 
of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  South.  This  has.  however,  the 
potentialitj*  of  a strong  organization  in  7*29  societies  existing  in  as 
manj*  congregations.  They  are  directly  auxiliary  to  the  Board  of 
tlie  Church  and  have  been  forming  since  1874. 

.\11  these  different  organizations  work  with  varj*ing  methods, 
each  according  to  the  genius  of  the  Church  it  represents.  While  the 
majoritj*  of  them  .su.stain  missionaries  appointed  by  the  Church 
Board,  or  at  most  onlj*  •“  recommended  " from  themselves.  Metho- 
dist women,  the  Friends,  and  the  Union  Societj*  are  accoimtable  to 
no  Board  above  them.  While  the  Methodist  Societj*  (in  the  North) 
sends  out  oulj*  unmarried  women,  most  societies  adopt  wives  as 
well,  and  the  Christian  Woman's  Board  enrolls  more  men  than 
women  missionaries.  In  auxiliaries  of  the  Methodist  Protestant 


11 


Church  iu  West  Virginia,  meu  were  appointed  officers  because 
women  could  not  be  induced  to  serve.  But.  with  divergence  in 
method,  all  the  societies  have  the  same  aim  ; looking  abroad,  to 
carry  the  gospel  where,  without  women,  it  cannot  be  efficiently 
carried  : looking  homeward,  to  give  every  woman  in  every  parish  a 
chance  to  share  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  In  nearly 
every  society  a membership  fee  is  required  and.  in  all.  labor  and 
responsibility  are  diffused  down,  from  officers  of  the  Board 
through  smaller  organizations  called  " Branche.s,"  “ Presbyterial 
Societies"  etc.,  to  the  local  "parish " or  "auxiliary"  society.  All 
hold  meetings  to  transact  business,  for  their  own  spiritual  good, 
to  pray  for  missions  and  to  spread  information  on  the  subject. 

All  avail  themselves  of  the  printing  press  and  annually  scatter 
broadcast 

" Like  leaves  of  the  forest  when  summer  is  green. " 
millions  of  pages  in  reports,  mission  lessons,  calendars  of  prayer, 
leaflets,  newspaper  columns  and  magazines  for  young  and  old.  Of 
the  latter  the  three  largest.  iro//io//'.s  Work  for  Woman,  The  Heathen. 

Woman's  Friend  and  The  Helping  Hand  have  respectively  18.000. 

‘dl.lXK)  and  2.3.0(K)  subscribers.  All  these  societies  undertake  to 
train  the  children  to  missionary  service,  and  the  talent  and 
ingenuity  expended  in  jDroviding  in-ograms  for  their  meetings, 
opening  channels  for  their  self-denial  and  encouraging  their  zeal, 
and  the  solid  results  of  this  outlay,  constitute  an  important 
chapter  in  the  histoiy  of  missioiiaiy  effort.  Through  one  child- 
ren's paper.  88.000  were  raised  in  1892  for  a building  in  California. 

In  1892  these  thirty-three  societies  combined  were  represented  SummarieR, 
l)y  l.O.jl  missionaries.  The  greater  number  of  them  were  teachers 
of  schools,  many  engaged  in  evangelistic  work  and  65  were 
physicians  (this  year  the  number  is  increased  to  71)  graduated 
with  full  diploma.  Almost  eveiy  society  sends  out  at  least  one 
woman  physician  to  the  field.  The  Seventh-day  Baptists  have 
one ; the  United  Presbyterians  have  two ; the  United  Brethren  in 
Christ,  with  an  auxiliary  membership  of  only  T.tKK).  have  three 
physicians ; the  Congregational  Church  has  seven ; the  Baptist 
Church  (Xort hern  Convention)  has  12 ; the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Society  (North),  the  noble  pioneer  in  this  direction,  has  11.  and 
the  Presbjderian  Church  (North)  with  her  22  skilled  women, 
every  one  at  her  post,  has  at  present  outrun  any  other  single 
society  in  the  world.  In  not  less  than  70  hospitals  and  dis- 
pensaries. nursing,  medicine  and  surgery  are  administered  l)y 
these  American  women,  with  a yearly  result  of  from  5.(XX)  to  25.(HK) 
patients  iu  each,  and  incalculable  relief  of  suffering. 

total  of  more  than  2.000  schools  of  which  about  175  are 


12 


Modern 

Movement 

in 

Home 


hoarding  or  high  go-ade  schools  for  girls ; a total,  as  far  as  reported, 
of  76.(XK)  pupils;  of  1..500  native  assistants  employed;  represent 
some  Christian  agencies  sustained  by  the  women's  societies. 
In  addition  to  these  larger  items,  they  have  aided  in  building  and 
furnishing  homes  for  missionary  children,  missionarj-  residences 
and  sanitariums,  orphanages,  training-schools  for  nurses,  leper 
and  other  asylums ; they  have  established  scholarships,  medical 
classes  and  industrial  plants  in  connection  with  schools;  have 
translated  the  Bible,  school-books,  tracts  and  hymns  into  foreign 
languages  and  printed  them  ; have  built  boats  for  African  and 
Siamese  Rivers  and  South  Pacific  Seas ; have  published  Marathi. 
Hindustani.  Tamil.  Japanese.  Romanized  Chinese,  and  Mexican 
newspapers ; have  met  all  expenses  at  home.  and.  in  many  cases, 
paid  a given  per  cent  of  their  receipts  into  the  Treasury  of  the 
Chiu’ch  Board  for  contingent  expenses  cunnected  with  their  o\vn 
work.  The  whole  amount  contributed  for  these  purposes  for 
1892-93.  was  .?1.4T.5.933. 

Take  a single  illustration  of  how  these  contributions  have 
l)een  increasing.  In  1870.  as  the  Treasurer  of  a gieat  Board  said, 
"there  rolled  into  the  Treasm-y  a little  cake  of  barley  bread 
labelled  • Woman's  work  for  woman.  87.000.' " The  speaker  referred 
to  the  first  contribution  under  the  new  movement  from  Presby- 
terian women  of  the  North.  This  year,  that  barley  cake  has 
become  a wheaten  loaf  of  more  that  8.3(Ki.000. 

The  genesis  of  this  woman's  missionarj*  movement  was  foreign 
missions,  but  everything  that  has  been  .said  relating  to  expansion 
in  that  direction,  the  manner  of  growth,  the  conduct  of  societies, 
the  .sijirit  called  forth,  applies  eqiially  to  home  mis-sions  endeavor. 
For.  when  Christian  women  began  to  save  their  heathen  sisters, 
was  there  a general  stampede  from  the  churches  to  Asia  and 
Africa  ? Not  at  all. 


"The  lights  that  shine  farthe.st 
Shine  brightest  near  home." 

Just  as  might  have  been  expected,  when  that  effectual  crj*  from 
out  the  darkness  probed  woman's  selfishness  and  broke  up  the 
fountains  of  her  heart,  she  was  readj*.  as  never  before,  to  ac- 
knowledge everj*  claim.  Now  began  more  intelligent  and  aggressive 
effort  in  Home  Missions.  The  old-fashioned  sewing  society  could 
not  answer  the  requirements  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Now. 
school-houses  must  be  built  and  parsonages  and  chapels. 
Methodist  women  hold  proper!  j*  in  .sc-hools  and  Indus- 
trial Homes  in  this  countrj*  to  the  value  of  822.5.(KHi. 
The  Presbj-teriau  Church  i North  i holds  propertj*  in  build- 


inss  and  real  estate  from  North  Carolina  to  Alaska, 
amounting  to  a half  million  dollars,  all  of  which  has  been  acquired 
through  the  Women’s  Home  Missions  Committee,  since  1S7S. 

Now.  scholarshijis  must  be  established  and  teachers  sent  forth 
and  maintained,  in  flocks,  to  the  colored  people  of  the  South,  on 
an  enlaig:ed  scale  to  the  Indian,  to  the  congested  centers  of  foreign 
emigrants,  to  the  poor  whites  and  the  Chinese.  The  Congrega- 
tional Church  has  sent  .3,000  women  to  teach  the  Freedmen  since 
the  war.  It  has  20>  men  in  the  United  States,  preaching  the 
<iospel  in  foreign  languages,  who  are  mainly  supported  by  the 
women’s  societies.  With  "Our  Land  for  Christ.’”  their  watchword, 
and  "America  must  be  saved  by  Americans”  inscribed  on  their 
l)anner.  the  women  have  gone  into  Utah  resolving  that  "every 
foot  of  the  350.000  square  miles  covered  by  the  Mormon  Church  ” 
•ihall  be  " redeemed  to  Christ.”  In  about  fifty  separate  towns  in 
Utah  they  have  planted  their  common  schools.  Where  is  that 
banner  not  flying?  The  itinerant  missionary  woman  has  l>een 
introduced,  a reclaiming  force,  among  the  deserted  farms  of  New 
Hampshire.  The  evening  lamp  of  the  missionary’s  home  shines 
across  the  Florida  swamp,  and  up  on  the  farthest  parallel  toward 
the  pole  stands  the  royal  gift  of  a woman’s  hand,  a school  for 
-\iaskan  children.  Not  only  the  ordinary  field  of  former  years 
must  be  worked,  but  extraordinary  situations  must  be  opened  up 
to  Gospel  light  and  atmosphere.  Simday-schools  mu.st  be  planted 
in  clefts  of  the  mountains  and  among  the  scattered  sheep  in  the 
•^age  brush.  Christian  investments  must  follow  the  trail  of  Ixjom- 
ing  towns.  The  missionary  mnst  be  on  hand  with  his  sermon  the 
first  Sunday  after  Oklahoma  is  entered.  His  wife  is  there,  too.  and 
it  is  not  long  before  she  is  leader  of  a boy’s  club  who  are  put  upon 
their  honor  to  neither  swear  nor  use  tobacco  in  her  presence.  The 
women  organize  their  "paper  mission"  and  .send  millions  of  new.s- 
papers  and  pictures  where  they  cannot  penetrate  thenaselves ; to 
light-hou-ses.  prisons,  the  militarj-  jxjst.  the  lumberman’s  camp, 
the  dugout,  the  prairie  schooner.  People  in  the  far  West  have 
gone  fourteen  miles  this  Columbian  year  to  borrow  old  magazines. 
-Vnd  stilL  with  all  their  greater  undertakings,  the  women  continue 
to  fill  up  niches  in  mission  needs.  Their  ^xes  snipplement 
meagre  salarie.s.  Single  parishes  send  twenty-five  to  thirty  in  a 
sea.son.  Every  year  bells  mirst  be  set  ringing  in  new  prairie 
churches,  and  freight  cars  carry  west  and  southward  Sunday- 
school  libraries  and  chapel  organs.  Here  goes  a horse,  there  a 
saddle  or  a tent.  Women  of  the  Reformed  Dutch  i Church  sent 
seven  communion  sets  to  feeble  churches  la.st  jear.  Every 


14 


Dates  of 
Home 
Missions 
.Soc’ieties 
in  the 
I'liurelies. 


facility  which  the  mind  can  devise,  from  a bath  to  a hundred- 
thonsand-dollar  building,  if  it  will  promote  true  citizenship  and 
Christianity  in  o\ir  country,  is  laid  claim  to  by  Home  Missions. 
One  of  the  mottoes  of  this  patiotic  army  is.  "The  foreigner  must 
be  Americanized " and  that  calls  for  the  Training-school,  where 
workers  are  practiced  both  in  the  English  tongue  and  in  whatever 
speech  is  native  to  the  foreigner's  trans- Atlantic  home.  Such  a 
school  is  that  of  the  Bapti.st  Society  in  Chicago,  where  young 
women  of  ten  races  are  in  training  to  teach,  each,  in  her  own 
tongue.  In  Springfield.  Mass.,  is  an  institution  conducted  in  the 
French  language,  where  young  women,  as  well  as  men.  are  trained 
for  gospel  work  among  that  great  deposit  of  French  Canadians 
which  ha.s  lately  been  precipitated  into  New  England.  Other  train- 
ing-schools. on  ail  English  basis  only,  are  well-known.  Metho- 
dist (Episcopal I women  of  the  South  opened  one  at  a cost  of 
•i^T.o.OOO,  in  1892.  Methodist  women  in  the  Xorth  have  erected 
eleven  Deacone.ss*  Homes  in  as  many  cities,  as  centers  of  work. 

Every  class  must  be  sought  out  and  benefited.  The  emigrant 
girl  must  be  met  on  the  wharf  when  she  lands.  The  good  Samari- 
tan nimst  pour  oil  into  the  wounds  of  the  Alaskan  girl  fallen 
among  thieves.  The  Huguenot  blood  and  the  Covenanter  blood  in 
the  mountains  of  Kentucky.  Tennassee  and  Xorth  Carolina,  must 
be  searched  out  and  put  to  school.  There  must  be  Sunday-schools 
for  the  cowboys,  witli  first-class  organ  plajnug.  and  the  Jews  even 
the  .Jews  must  not  be  overlooked  any  longer.  One  woman, 
single-handed,  carries  a struggling  school  of  Spanish  chihlren  in 
X’ew  York  City  for  years,  till  friends  come  to  its  rescue  and  now 
there  is  a church  of  fifty-si.x  members.  Similar  efforts  are  put 
forth  for  Italian  laborers  along  tlie  beds  of  great  railway  lines  and 
for  Slovack  miners  in  Pennsylvania,  and  if  anybody  is  generally 
left  out  he  is  .specially  gathered  in  under  the  term  "neglected 
populations."  which  is  one  of  the  very  shibl>oleths  of  Home 
Mission  speech  in  our  day. 

Women  undertook,  at  the  out.set.  both  Home  and  Foreign 
Missions,  in  several  branches  of  the  Church : in  others  the  old 
method  of  aiding  Home  Missions,  already  doing  good  .service,  was 
slower  to  give  place  to  the  modern  society.  Special  organization 
in  the  interests  of  Home  Missions  occurred  as  follows : 


Baptist  Church  (X'orthi  in 187t> 

Baptist  Church  (South) 1888 

Baptist  Free  Church 187J 

BaptLst  Seventh-day  Church 188.'> 

Christian  Church 18fX» 


15 


Congregational  Church  State  Unions 1883 

Episcopal  Church 1871 

German  Church  (Evangelical  Association) 1884 

Lutheran  C?hurch 1879 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (Xorth) 1880 

Methodist  (Episcopal)  Church  South 1878 

Methodist  Protestant 1893 

Presbyterian  Church  ( Xorth  i 1878 

Presbyterian  Church  (Cumbei-land) 1880 

Presbjderian  ( United ) Church 1883 

Reformed  (Dutch)  Church 1875 

United  Brethern  in  Christ 1875 


These  societies  are  working  among  forty  tribes  of  Indians, 
and  in  neaily  20  European  languages.  The  five  largest  of  them 
are  represented  by  1,084  missionaries  and  teachers,  and  the  sum 
disbursed  in  1892-93  by  all  these  societies,  so  far  as  reported,  was 
81.1(K\(XKJ  in  money,  outside  of  other  gifts. 

But.  it  is  time  to  ask.  with  all  this  outside  demand  upon  city 
Christian  women  did  the  local  church  die  of  neglect  ? Were  :uission 
Bible  classes  vacated  by  teachers,  bedsides  deserted  by  nurses  ? 

Was  family  religion  no  more  cultivated  ? Carried  away  with  this 
enthusiasm  for  the  black  race  and  red  race  and  the  yellow,  for 
missions  in  Colorado  and  missions  in  Japan,  did  Dorcas  and 
Tryijhosa  now  cease  to  lodge  strangers,  to  wash  the  saints'  feet, 
to  relieve  the  afflicted  ? 

By  no  means.  How  mtach  was  heard  of  City  Missions  before 
the  foreign  missionary  wave  toirched  our  shores  ? A priori,  city 
missions  were  first,  for  unless  wn  love  the  brother  that  we  have 
seen,  how  can  we  love  him  that  we  have  not  seen  ? But  in  the 
order  of  spiritual  sequences,  it  was  after  God  pressed  home  upon 
us  the  radical  truth  that  He  had  made  tiJl  nations  of  one  blood  and 
if  we  love  Him  we  must  love  our  brother  to  the  ends  of  the  world. 
that  the  light  of  city  missions  blazed  out  from  a more  than  seven- 
branched  candlestick.  Xow.  began  the  flower  missions,  fresh-air 
funds,  girls'  “ Friendlys."  midnight  missions.  King's  Daughters, 
boot-black  brigades,  free  kindergartens.  Young  Women's  Chri.stian 
-Yssociations.  day-nurseries,  night-schools,  protection  against 
cruelty  to  children  and  animals,  and  all  those  specialized  forms  of 
rescue  work  which  characterize  our  time,  which  women  always 
aid.  often  both  conduct  and  maintain.  Beautifid  is  the  interplay 
between  departments  of  this  work.  It  is  all  so  informed  by  one 
aim  and  spirit  that  it  is  perfectly  easy  for  the  same  heart  to  have 
jjlace  for  missions  in  their  different  phases. 


16 


Proportion 

of 

Woiiien 

Knlistert. 


JSpecimeii 
Results 
in  the 
I'nitecl 
States. 


An  historical  survey  like  this  may  seem  open  to  the  charge  of 
boastfulness.  God  forbid  that  we  should  in  anjuvise  boast.  In  all 
things  we  have  come  short.  Have  any  women  on  earth  received 
so  much  from  God,  do  any  owe  so  much  to  His  dear  Sou,  as  we  of 
America  ? But.  listening  to  summaries,  we  are  apt  to  be  deceived. 
Totals  sotind  large.  When  we  come  to  place  facts  in  right 
proportion  we  are  disillusionized.  In  what  proportion  are  the 
women  of  our  Churches  represented  in  these  efforts  ? 

" One-fourth  of  our  half  a million  women,"  say  Methodists  of 
the  North ; “Eighteen  per  cent  of  adult  women  in  Yearly  Meet- 
ing," say  the  Friends  ; "IGO  auxiliaries  out  of  1.I50  congregations-  - 
what  of  the  1,000  congregations  ? say  Lutherans  ; “ contributions 
from  a little  more  than  half  our  parishes,"  say  Episcopalians  : 
“ foreign  missionary  auxiliaries  in  two-thirds  of  our  churches,"  say 
Pre.sbjderians  in  Pennsylvania  not  more  than  one-.sixth  of  our 
church  members  in  any  missionary  work."  say  Presbyterians  of 
Oregon  ; “ one-eighth  of  our  church  members  in  twenty -two  states 
enrolled  in  Home  Missionary  Society,"  say  Baptists  of  the  North  ; 
“one-sixth  of  our  church  women  in  foreign  missionary  member- 
ship," say  Congregationalists  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  ; “ less  than 
one-sixth,"  they  say  about  Chicago ; “ five  hundred  dead  societies," 
reports  one  Board.  But.  just  because  this  muster  of  His  hand- 
maidens has  been  so  reluctant  and  incomplete,  the  name  of  the 
Lord  is  the  more  magnified  in  results  achieved.  In  view  of  .so 
much  accomplished  by  such  weak  agencies,  we  can  only  look  up 
and  wonder  and  adore.  What  blessing  God  could  pour  out  and 
what  the  victory  would  be.  if  instead  of  this  fraction  from  our 
churches,  every  woman  in  them  would  add  the  weight  of  her 
warmhearted  devotion  to  missionary  sei-vice,  can  hardly  be 
conceived. 

Thus  far  this  history  has  restricted  itself  to  a review  of 
Efforts.  l)ut,  in  clo.sing.  we  cannot  restrain  one  swift  glance  at 
Results. 

In  our  own  country  they  are  apparent.  The  record  of  them  is 
not  confined  to  missionary  magazines  ; it  is  in  all  the  newspapers. 
The  missionary  woman  labors  uiider  limitations  in  Oriental 
countries  and.  especially  if  unmarried,  must  often  endure  to  have 
her  motives  and  conduct  rest  under  the  suspicions  of  degraded 
minds.  But  her  peculiar  arena  is  our  deal-  land  where,  even  in 
rudest  communities,  the  air  breathes  of  chivalry  towards  woman- 
hood. The  sun  in  its  course  looks  down  on  no  spot  of  earth 
where  the  opinions  of  good  women  and  the  i-esolute  actions  of 
good  women  have  so  much  influence  on  the  public  mind  and 


IT 


public  weal.  Were  all  their  active  and  afJKressive  part  in  philan- 
thropic work  to  be  suppressed  to-day.  not  only  would  every  Home 
Missionary  Society  be  in  despair,  but  protest  would  arise  from 
worldly  men.  It  is  more  difficult  to  point  to  what  is  di.stinctively 
fruit  of  woman’s  work  in  mis.sions  at  home  than  abroad,  because 
the  peculiar  barriers  of  the  East  are  wanting  here.  Nowhere  in 
our  coimtry  is  the  ordained  man  prohibited  from  carrying  the 
Gospel  into  the  home,  or  pressing  the  claims  of  religion  upon  any 
individual.  And,  yet.  that  young  colored  woman  at  Augusta. 

( ieorgia.  in  charge  of  a school  having  eight  a.s.si.stant  teachei’s  and 
400  pupils : the  Omaha  Indian  girl  regularly  graduated  as  a 
physician  and  practicing  among  her  people  : the  Dakota  women’s 
missionary  societies  and  their  notable  offerings ; the  rescued 
Chinese  slave-girl  assisting,  in  the  English  language,  at  a corner- 
stone laying  in  San  Francisco  last  July,  twenty  churches  of 
<-onverted  Mormons  born  out  of  women’s  schools-  these  are 
specimen  fruits  of  what  is  not  likely  to  be  brought  to  perfection 
without  a woman’s  hand. 

But  what  of  tho.se  farther  shores  *?  Have  the  toils  of  all  these 
societies  at  home  and  the  sacrifices  of  our  countrywomen  been 
also  blessed  in  the  Turkish  Empire,  in  Persia.  India.  Siam,  China. 
Japan,  Korea.  Africa,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Sea  ? There,  results 
are  farther  out  of  sight  than  results  at  home  ; we  must  draw 
nearer  to  them.  Yes,  God  has  answered  us  with  his  seal  of 
approval.  It  is  imprinted  on  the  personal  transformation  frcjm 
wild,  unruly  beings,  such  as  met  the  first  missionaries  in  Persia,  to 
those  dignified  ladies  who  now  conduct  Quarterly  Meetings  on 
Oroomiah  Plain  and  furnish  columns  to  the  mission  paper. 
Travelers  in  Syria  and  Egypt  tell  us  they  are  often  al)le.  by  their 
faces,  to  select  out  of  a casual  company  whom  they  see,  those 
women  who  have  attended  mission  school.  A visitor  in  Mexico 
could  scarce  believe  that  the  thoughtful-faced  women  in  the 
mission  congregation  w’ere  of  the  same  class  as  those  she  met  on 
the  plaza.  Let  a European  light  down  upon  any  village  in  Asia 
Minor  or  the  Chinese  Empire,  and  the  tidiest  house  there,  with 
the  cleanest  tablecloth  and  the  most  inviting  bed,  is  the  home  of  a 
mission  school  graduate.  The  transformation  appears  in  the 
deaths  they  die  : like  the  old  Siamese  woman,  a few  months  ago. 
whispering  " My  Savioixr"  with  her  latest  breath  ; like  the  young 
wife  on  the  Ogowe  River,  Africa,  when  heart  and  flesh  failed,  still 
resisting  the  witch  doctor  and  charging  her  husband  to  be  "faithful 
to  God.”  These  women  are  transformed  by  happiness.  Christianity 
encourages  them,  wakes  their  intellect,  kindles  aspiration,  as  well 
as  offers  peace.  Where  for  thousands  of  years  they  have  said. 


General 

Result!) 

Abroad. 


18 


We  are  donkeys,"  a corps  of  intelliKeiit  teachers  and  evangelists 
are  now  raised  up. 

As  women  rise,  they  bring  the  home  uj)  with  them.  A 
missionary  of  long  experience  points  to  the  “ new  affection  and 
respect  showai  l>y  husband  and  children  toward  Christian  wives 
and  mothers,  because  their  religion  has  made  them  worthy  of 
respect  and  affection  which  as  heathen  women  they  did  not 
merit." 

Without  this  woman's  work  for  woman,  touching  life  at  .so 
many  and  such  sensitive  points,  some  missions  would  have  been 
a failure.  Church  membership  which  formerly  preponderated 
entirely  in  favor  of  men  has,  in  .some  older  missions,  approached 
nearly  to  ecpialization.  Among  their  trophies  are  women  who 
have  borne  persecution  ; those  who  zealously  prosecute  Home 
Missions  as  among  (lilbert  Island  women,  and  the  Japanese  who 
have  been  known  to  .sell  their  dresses  for  the  cause.  They  have 
their  foreign  missionary  heroines  like  Yona.  the  Harriet  Newell  of 
Zululand. 

Look  at  this  woman's  work  for  woman  in  Japan.  Prayei- 
Unions  holding  their  annual  meeting,  attended  by  delegates  from 
different  cities,  whose  traveling  expenses  were  paid  by  sisters  of 
their  respective  churches.  A Japanese  girl  leaving  a legacy  of  86') 
to  the  school  where  she  became  a Christian.  Bible  women  in 
demand  beyond  the  supply,  and  Japanese  churches  paying  a part 
or  all  of  their  salary.  “Such  deep  Christian  experience"  an 
Osaka  missionary  writes,  ” that  it  seems  impossible  they  grew  to 
womanhood  in  ignorance  of  Christ." 

Look  at  this  woman's  work  for  woman  in  India.  It  has  found 
out  the  class  resting  under  the  heaviest  curse,  the  widow,  and 
lifted  her  to  a place  of  honor.  While  Christian  girls  have  been 
passing  entrance  examinations  to  the  University  for  twenty  years, 
t he  first  Mohammedan  girl  has  matriculated  this  year  1 1898 ).  “Chris- 
tian women."  Miss  Thoburn  says.  “ are  much  more  prominent  and 
important  than  Christian  men.  If  they  live  in  a village  the.v  are 
the  onl.v  women  there  who  can  read  and  write.  No  others  go  to 
a i)lace  of  worship  with  men.  Their  daughters  go  away  to  board- 
ing-school and  return  to  be  consulted  l)y  their  own  fathers.  MTien 
the  Dufferin  medical  schools  called  for  students,  three-fourths  of 
those  who  came  forward  were  Christian  girls."  Even  indirect 
results  begin  to  show  themselves  on  the  far  horizon.  The  jxtrdoh 
is  drawn  aside  for  a fete  day  at  the  Exposition  in  Calcutta.  A 
class  of  barbarous  midwives  .study  anatomy  with  a Philadelphia 
graduate.  An  appeal  against  child-marriage  is  .sent  to  the  English 
Parliament.  Brahmo  Soma.j  women  gather  together  into  a prayer- 


19 


meeting  at  Lahore.  " It  i.s  your  women  and  your  doctors  we  are 
afraid  of,"  say  the  men  of  India. 

In  Persia,  the  respectful  term  Khanum  (Lady)  is  frequently 
applied  to  Christians  by  Persian  me.n,  but  to  Mohammedan 
women,  never.  A priest  asked  a missionary  lady  to  offer  prayer 
beside  him  at  the  burial  of  a child.  When  the  American  Misssion 
was  opened,  only  two  women  in  the  whole  country  could  read.  At 
their  Jubilee  in  1885,  the  question  was  put,  How  many  present 
can  read  ? " and  six  hundred  women  rose  to  their  feet. 

Look  at  this  woman's  work  for  woman  in  China.  A Canton 
girl,  imitating  her  college  sisters  in  England  and  America  takes 
the  prize  for  Bible  examination,  over  the  heads  of  all  the  compet- 
ing pastors.  Up  in  Shantung  several  women,  without  preacher, 
teacher  or  sexton,  have  maintained  a house  of  worship  and  Sun- 
day .services  in  their  community  for  a period  of  years.  “ Direct 
work  for  women."  says  a cautious  missionary  in  that  province, 
" has  contributed  fully  one-half  to  the  improved  sentiment  towanl 
foreigners."  “ Conv^eys  the  idea  that  they  amount  to  something,” 
says  another,  ‘‘  sadly  needed  for  those  so  near  the  vanishing  point 
in  .social  life.  Necessary  to  the  stability  of  the  family.  When 
husbands  become  Christians  and  wives  adhere  to  heathenism,  they 
are  at  cross-purposes,  and,  after  a year  or  two  of  conte.st.  the 
hnsband  surrenders.  The  family  can  be  won  in  no  other  w’ay. 
There  is  a kind  of  fascination  about  the  missionary  lady ; the.se 
heathen  women  fairly  run  and  troop  around  her.  and  when  they 
are  won  the  whole  family  becomes  a fixed  institution  in  the 
Church.  I am  of  the  opinion."  continues  our  mi.s.sionary  from 
North  China.  " that  for  permanent  hold  of  Christianity  upon  the 
people,  work  among  women  is  more  important  than  among  men. 
The  request  comes  from  all  our  stations,  ‘ Send  us  more  ladies.' " 

Encouraged  by  such  evidences  as  these,  incited  by  grati- 
tude and  the  promise  of  (xod’s  Word  and  sustained  by  the  Spirit 
of  God.  the  woman's  missionary  societies  propose  to  tarry  not  nor 
falter,  but  to  hand  on  their  work  to  children  and  children's 
I'hildren,  enjoining  upon  them  to  save  America,  to  save  the  world, 
and  to  l>e  found  so  doing  when  our  Lord  shall  come. 


women's  B0.\RD  of  FOREIGN'  MISSION'S  OF  THE  PRESBYTERI.^X  CHURCH. 

58  FIFTH  AVKXUK,  N.  Y.  CITY. 

Pri(*e,  3 rents  earh;  82,50  per  luuuired. 

\ 


